Factions of the Blood War
The Factions
There are more sides to the war than just Devils and Demons, though no other side has lost as many as they have. Many whisper that there is a force behind all of the events of the Blood War to ensure that it lasts forever, for an end to the bloodshed may be the first step to the end of time.
The Fiends
Devils (Baatezu)
The Devils, also known as the Baatezu, hail from the Nine Hells and are lawful fiends. Their philosophical differences with the Demons helped facilitate this massive conflict, and their main desire in all of this is to have ultimate control over the Multiverse. Because of their lawful nature, they are quick to make deals and sign contracts, though whatever deal they make typically benefits them the most. They form their entire life around laws and rules and have a hierarchical structure because of it. They rely on gaining power via promotions from their higher-ups and work hard to ensure they are noticed. The structure of society is one of the most important things for Devils as, without it, they would be no better than the anarchist Demons they so despise.
Dark Eight
The Dark Eight are the eight pit fiend generals in charge of running the Blood War for the Lords of the Nine. They are incredibly powerful creatures, but their power is not comparable to that of the Lords. Four times a year they meet with the Lords to give reports on the Blood War, and each general is in charge of specific parts of the Blood War like equipment supplies, the morale of the troops and research into weapons better equipped to kill demons.
Demons (Tanar’ri)
The Demons, also known as the Tanar’ri, hail from the infinite layers of the Abyss. It is said that there are an infinite number of Demons and an infinite number of planes in the Abyss. This puts the Devils at a big disadvantage, though the Demons can rarely ever stick to a plan or follow orders. This gives their lawful opponents a fighting chance and can stop many of the Demons from getting a foothold on Baator.
The Demons, whilst chaotic, follow a very strict hierarchy where the powerful subjugate the weak. Because the Demons don’t believe in anything but destruction, they have no interest in upholding their contracts and while promotions do happen in the Abyss, more often than not Demons are promoted not because of their deeds but because their superior needs them to be something else. All Demons, regardless of their rank, see themselves becoming the most powerful Demon and who will be the one to destroy all of the planes. Though none of them give thought as to what they will do once they destroy everything.
Yugoloths
Created by the Baernaloths, the Yugoloths are neutral and take no sides in the Blood War conflict. They offer their mercenary services to the highest bidder and will often betray whichever side they are on if they are offered more treasures or a better contract.
It is thought that the Yugoloths created the Devils and Demons when they stripped the forces of Law and Chaos from themselves using a powerful artifact known as the Heart of Darkness. This Heart of Darkness was created by their leader, the General of Gehenna who wished to become more like their creators, the Baernaloths.
Many distrust the involvement of the Yugoloths in the Blood War and swear that the Yugoloths are purposefully extending the war for their own benefit. If the war were to end, the Yugoloths wouldn’t be able to profiteer in the same way that they currently are. Thankfully for the Yugoloths, the Devils and Demons don’t seem to have noticed this duplicity as they are too busy killing each other.
Outsiders
Not all who take part in the Blood War are the evil fiends of the lower planes. Mortals are often drawn into the conflict, either through poor decision-making skills or being on the front lines of a Demonic invasion. Beyond the Material Plane though, others have taken an interest in the affairs of the Blood War and work to contain it or end it completely.
The Balance
The Balance is a small group who monitor the Blood War and do everything in their power to ensure that one side doesn’t grow stronger than the other. They wish to avoid a future where Devils are the overlords of all, or Demons have destroyed everything. They work tirelessly to stop either outcome from happening.
The Balance likes to remind everyone that they are true Neutral and are just looking to keep one side from gaining too much of a foothold. This means that they may thwart a paladin from destroying a Demon Prince or help a cleric find information on how to weaken the Nine Hells. Because their ways are largely mysterious to outsiders, no one trusts them and it doesn’t help that many of their members profit off of the war.
Modrons
Modrons abhor all chaos and have been ordered by Primus to put a stop to any seed of chaos they find. To that effect, they made a million-strong army known as The Army of the Blood War. They are very creative with their names.
The purpose of this million-modron strong army is to find Abyssal strongholds and destroy them from Gehenna, Baator and anywhere else they can be found. They will often lend their numbers to the Devils and are constantly looking for ways to destroy the Demonic scourge, for if the Demons were to ever win, chaos would reign and they can’t have that.
Another part of their mission is to clear out paths for the Great Modron March that marches through the lower planes, this helps ensure that Modrons can safely navigate the planes and make it back to Mechanus.
The Celestials
The Celestials have long sat by and watched the forces of evil clashing with each other, their philosophy is why should they get involved when evil seems more than willing to kill itself. Some Celestials though are unwilling to sit idly by while there is a war to be had, and many that follow deities of war find themselves descending into the War striking down evil where they find it.
Zariel, the archdevil of Avernus - the first layer of Baator - is one of the most important and influential of the Celestials, though not anymore. Before she became an archdevil she was a powerful angel that grew impatient with the Celestials as she believed that if Mt. Celestia’s forces would descend on the lower planes, they could wipe out the threat of the fiends. Eventually, she grew exasperated with the rest of her kind and led an army of mortals across Avernus, destroying the fiendish scourge where ever they were to be found... that is until they were overwhelmed by the massive army of Devils. Asmodeus was so impressed by her skills that he made her the archdevil of Avernus, replacing Bel who once held that spot.
